A 30 cal. ~130 grn bullet for mostly 30 Herrett

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  • Last Post 10 June 2012
JohnM posted this 03 June 2012

I'm trying to decide on a mold to cast a bullet in the 130 grain range to use for a .30 Herrett. Probably use Lyman #2 or similar alloy and I suppose ought to go with a GC bullet. Any one here have a particular favorite for that cartridge?

The RCBS 7.62-130-SPL looks interesting.

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Duane Trusty posted this 03 June 2012

JohnM

If you are looking for a good plinking bullet, you might try Lyman's 311410. It's a plain base so you may desire to have both the RCBS and the Lyman. I like it as I am too cheap to buy gas checks for my two grandsons to shoot up, it's expensive enough to keep them in reloads as it is.

It is no sin to have two molds.

Duane Trusty

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JohnM posted this 03 June 2012

:) I hear ya. Ain't the price of gas checks through the roof? And I was down to a gun show last week where I knew I could get a bunch for good prices and forgot all about it :(

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Wayne S posted this 03 June 2012

 What's your intended use ?? If it's  light “plinking” NOE may have a few copies of their 314-135

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JohnM posted this 03 June 2012

I'll shoot lots of paper. I got a scoped barrel, so after I get used to it I'm sure I'll start going for some distance.

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Michael K posted this 04 June 2012

I presume your Herrett is in a TC. How much freebore does your barrel have? If it is like mine and you want seat to the lands, you might run out of bullet or case before you get there. I have had good results with the 311291 and the RCBS 30-150-FN.

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JohnM posted this 04 June 2012

This barrel seems to have minimal. I have all the cases I made trimmed to 1.605 and only get ~0.060 of free bore. A lot of bullets would have to be seated deep.

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Michael K posted this 04 June 2012

Both my 1:10 and 1:14 twist barrels are very generous. Another bullet I have played with, but in my TC .30 Carb is the is Saeco 316. It drops out at approx 150gr from WW. Seated with the forward driving band even will case mouth the base is about even with the body shoulder junction with minimal loss of case capacity. Just an idea, might be worth looking into. I sold the mould several years ago (I don't recall why), but I might have a few slugs floating around I could drop in the mail. Michael.

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JohnM posted this 04 June 2012

I just ran across an old article that wrote some 10” barrels had really tight free bore. From the SN mine was made in late 1978 I guess. Probably some dedicated Contender shooters around who know the skinny on the different chambering.

I just recently decided to start casting and the only 30 caliber molds I have now are some I bought to use for bullets in my 30 Carbine Ruger BH. Have a lot of them stock piled, so got plenty of those lighter bullets to play with for now. My barrel has one of those 1.5X T/C Lobo scopes mounted. Can't decide if I like that thing or not and my cataracts don't help!

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Michael K posted this 04 June 2012

Your post/query prompted me to go back and dig through my old notes and load data. Early on I shot the RCBS 30-115-RN cast from lino with H4227 with decent results even with the long throats. Later moved to heavier slugs and slower powders for silhouette. Burned an bunch of H335, H4895 and later 2015BR, both barrels were 14".

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JohnM posted this 04 June 2012

I found part of a box of MBC 115 grn with sort of a semi point. They let me seat the bullet just into the neck while kissing the lands. Right now I'm having trouble figuring how to get the neck fully resized without bumping the shoulder with this Pacific die I have. I suppose if I hit the shoulder a thou or 2 it wouldn't be that big a deal.

Gotta get busy doing some other stuff or I'll spend all day back and forth between the reloading bench and the shooting bench :)

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Michael K posted this 04 June 2012

Hi John

Zero set back when resizing is best with 30 Herrett in the TC. It does take a little time, trial and error and patience but it is possible.

TC published a small manual years ago titled “Making Your Contender Perform” In there they have several paragraphs specifically on forming and resizing .30 and .357 Herrett cases, it helped me alot when I started. Please forgive me if you are already aware of this, but if this is new info I hope you find it helpful.

Forming. 30 Herrett. Set bottom of sizer or form die 1/4” above shell holder. Trim to 1.605” and chamfer case mouth inside and out. Cases will intially be too long to chamber. Turn the size die in 1/8 turn incriments (or less) until a sized case will allow the TC to close completely and freely without interference from the case. Dry fire a perfectly sized case to be sure the hammer strikes and rests against the the firing pin. Subsiquent cases can be sized except for trimming in one operation after correct die setting has been acheived.

Resizing. Best accuracy will occur with zero headspacing where the case completely fills the chamber, but not a tight fit.

I was told years ago by the TC factory reps that easiest way to determine a correctly sized case is one that will not allow the hammer to hit the firing pin when the action is closed with normal force. But when the action is opened without engaging the extractor and closed again, the hammer will then contact the firing pin. It is much easier to show than to tell.

30 Herrett cases when improperly sized with show head seperation early on within 2 to 4 firings. When the sizer is properly adjusted, head seperation becomes a none issue and more cases will be lost to spit necks. One other important note; make sure you chambers are dry, no oil or grease, otherwise casehead thrust will eventually cause your frame to stretch. One last note, a form trim die helps speed up the case forming/trimming process a whole bunch.

Hope all this is helpful. Enjoy, the 30 Herrett is a fun little round.

All the best, Michael.

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JohnM posted this 05 June 2012

Thanks Micheal. I think I got this first batch of cases formed and fitted to this barrel.

Main problem now is I'm still not sure I like this idea of neck sizing only with this FL die. I fiddled around yesterday with some cases and die adjustments and think I'm getting the neck sized enough for bullet tension but not touching the shoulder. I guess if I see signs of separation developing after a few firings I didn't get it right.

I should be able to reload and fire a set of cases several times today and see how it goes. That is if the weather holds off.

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Michael K posted this 05 June 2012

Super, let me know how things go.

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JohnM posted this 07 June 2012

These cases are working nicely. I lost ~.005 after fire forming. That much to short out of the die maybe? I've fired the same 6 cases now 9 times, length stays within ~.002. Loaded some 96 grn bullets I had cast and some MBC 115 grn, using 2400 and IMR4227 & 4198.

I can't find a sign yet of incipient case separation or any other dimensional changes, course I'm still down at the low end of the recipes I've found.

Also finally figured out what it takes to get a good sight picture through that T/C Lobo scope, that thing was about to drive me nuts.

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Michael K posted this 08 June 2012

Hi John, Happy hear things are working out. How is the accuracy? Nice consistant groups I hope. Before I got bit by the BPCR bug my 30 Herrett cases had over 20 firings on them. Mostly with 24gr of 335 with the 311291, up there, but still comfortable out of a 14” bbl. All the best, Michael

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JohnM posted this 08 June 2012

Did you have to do any neck turning or reaming after that many firings?

I think this barrel is going to be very accurate. I was having a terrible time with the scope and could not get a handle on what a good sight picture was through that thing. Finally figured it out and it became a tack driver. Probably shoots way better than my old eyes can see. I do think a better scope is down the road somewhere.

Sure an interesting little round.

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Michael K posted this 08 June 2012

Nope, my chambers were not tight enough for me to worry about any neck work at all aside from trimming every once in a while to keep things uniform and annealing every 5-6 firings. Whenever I would put a scope on it for load work, it was not unusual to get 5 shot groups of 2” or less at a 100yds off the bench with cast, it did not happen with all loads/bullets, but at least I knew what it was capable of.

With the Lobo scope on it, would I be correct in guessing that your bbl is a 10” oct? How is it to shoot, a bit zippy?

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JohnM posted this 08 June 2012

It's a 10” round barrel. As soon as you move past minimum loads it lets you know there's something there. :D

Sure ain't got the best trigger I ever pulled. I was hoping it would have proper adjusting screws in the trigger group. I guess there's parts available and guys who do trigger service, but I'll just get used to this one.

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Michael K posted this 08 June 2012

Even before I had my trigger work done I was pretty pleased with it. Trigger work involves having someone who knows what they are doing (that ain't me) stone/smooth out the sears/etc. I had my triggers worked on and adjustments set by TC factory reps and explained the workings to me as they went through the process.

Disclaimer- all trigger work should only be performed by a qualified gunsmith. The following is what I recall and not to be taken as a recommendation or instruction.

There is a screw on up the upper inside surface of the trigger that adjusts the amount of engagement of trigger and sear. It is extremely important to make sure the sear does not trip when the action is closed with a strong snap, otherwise when the hammer is then cocked, one will hear and sometimes feel the sear release and then there will nothing there to keep the hammer cocked and then it is then free to fall and contact the firing pin. Also on the back side of the trigger guard there is also a small screw that controls overtravel that can turned in/out.

My first TC was 10” 30-30 bull barrel and it was quickly traded when I came across the 14” 30 Herrett. Same performance while being more efficent, less muzzle blast and better accuracy. So I had form cases, big whoop, I still think I came out ahead. A 10” .223 barrel also met the same fate in exchange for a .256 Win Mag.

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JohnM posted this 09 June 2012

I know it's getting a long way from the subject of molds, but I found a bunch of stuff by Mike Bellm about the intricacies of fit and fitting for the Contenders. Some really good reading. You probably have seen and read it.

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